Dancing with Butterflies: A Breathtaking Unforgettable Journey

By Dr. Gramps

Dancing with butterflies is a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearnings of three very brave butterflies named Zippy, Tippy and Flitty. They will be led to new heights of love, joy and victory. You will follow Jenny, who is offered an extraordinary adventure; it will be one that no other human has ever been able to take, a place called Butterfly Island. She will journey through difficult places with her three companions, as she overcomes her fears and passes through many dangers that will at last bring them to the end of their journey Crystal Mountain. Here she will experience the transformation that will take place by their wonderful and loving King.
The catch is that she will have to become a butterfly as well; her journey will take her through a terrible forest that is very scary having to watch and observe all that the butterflies and their babies will have to go through. They will have to face challenges with keeping their babies protected by learning to trust in their King as well as each other. They will learn the Kings way to turn their intentions into action, challenges into strength and their experiences into wisdom.
Based on the premise that by trusting in our King. He can change our lives and we can live an adventurous and exciting life for Him and our loved ones. Dancing with Butterflies is a story that will open up your emotions and your heart.
I find that Dancing with Butterflies is stunning in its beauty, simplicity and scope. It distills the teaching and wisdom of our King, reminding us of how wonderful it feels to be awake, alive and to love one another.

Kathy Barnes

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456730734

Dr. Gramps

DR. GLENN COOK’S life as a counselor has been spent studying human behavior from the perspective that every one’s life is a “work in progress”. He has discovered that people relax and open their hearts when asked to share their hopes and dreams with him. As they did he has helped them to see they were writing their life story on their hearts. Their life stories are dreams and hopes rooted in deep emotions. Emotional pain is the result of something interfering with the story. Understanding this Dr. Cook developed a unique approach to treating dysfunctional behavior. The client was challenged to lower their defenses and look at what part of their story had been disrupted; and with an open mind and heart they would be able to commit to a process that would bring about resolution. With a natural talent to think in story fashion and using it in counseling, it was a natural seque to create stories to tell his grandchildren. Whenever he visited them the first thing they wanted was for Grandpa to tell them a story. Often it was to repeat a story he had told them before. One reason they would seem to enjoy the stories was that they became characters in each story—in fact, they became the leading characters. It was easy to create a story about something that they had seen or recently experienced. As his grandchildren grew older, they talked about the stories and often asked him to put them in a book for their children to read. Instead he decided to write a story that they and their children could read together. This book is that story. Credentials: PH.D in Clinical Psychology and 2 Masters in counseling

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Dancing with Butterflies

A Breathtaking Unforgettable Journey

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Dr. Gramps

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2011 Dr. Gramps. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 4/1/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-3073-4 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-3074-1 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011901050

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

How It All Began

Chapter 2

The Challenge Festival

Chapter 3

Journey Into the Unknown

Chapter 4

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter 5

The King of the Light

Chapter 6

A Startling Discovery

Chapter 7

The Treacherous Journey Begins

Chapter 8

The Golden Rod

Chapter 9

The Fight Begins

Chapter 10

The Golden Warrior

Chapter 11

The Dangerous Trap

Chapter 12

The Brave Little Warrior

Chapter 13

Bulls’s Pride; Shark’s Revenge

Chapter 14

Race to the Mountain

Chapter 15

The Battle Grows Fierce

Chapter 16

Crystal Mountain

Chapter 17

Moonlight on the Mountain

Chapter 18

The Sneak Gets Caught

Chapter 19

On The Mountain at Last

Chapter 20

The King Returns

Chapter 21

A Moment of Panic

Chapter 22

A Tough Decision

Acknowledgements

Without the encouragement, editing, and other numerous helps from my dear friends Kathy and Randy Barnes I would not have been able to publish this book. I am deeply indebted to them. Also, I would like to acknowledge the help I received from my talented children who took time out of their busy lives to help me with this project; John Mark, who did the graphics and Jeff and Suzie who did the photography. I especially want to acknowledge the love and patience of my dear wife that allowed me to take all the hours that should have been spent on her and use them to write this book.

To my Story Loving

Grandchildren

A Grandfather’s Tale

Three adventure loving butterflies and an unseen guest embark on a life-threatening journey into the un-known. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. It certainly was to these butterflies. You won’t find out if it is really scary unless you take the journey with them.

~

This is a tale for adventure-lovers

where fantasy and reality blend into

a life-changing experience.

~

The heart of a great adventure is

a lively and vibrant imagination.

Only those who have such a spirit

will experience the greatest of wonders.

Dr. Gramps

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Chapter 1

How It All Began

My friends say I’m a dreamer. I suppose it’s because my favorite thing is lying in the grass during recess, and lunch, drawing pictures of the clouds. Most of the time, they appear to me like cartoon characters floating through the sky. When my classmates see me doing this they say, Hi J.D., what do you see? Their little rhyme usually gets us all laughing. They call me J.D. because my name is Jenny and I really am a dreamer.

I love looking at nature, especially the clouds, they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Sometimes, I have a hard time deciding if what I am seeing is real, or if I’m imaging it. Often they startle me.

What I’m going to share with my literature class today is more than something I imagined. It was something I believe really happened to me. I know that it will sound so far-fetched that my class will have a hard time believing it happened. Anyway, I hope they don’t make up their mind until they’ve heard the whole story.

I don’t have time to talk about all of that now; I’m almost late for my class. I mustn’t be late because my story is long and I only have an hour to tell it. I hope that will be enough time to share this mind-boggling thing that happened to me—or with me; I’m not really sure which.

Miss Willow greeted us with her usual smile and said, everyone, please take your seats. Let’s give Jenny, or should I say J.D., our full attention. I’m sure she’ll have another interesting story to share with us. OK, you have our attention J.D. Let’s hear your story.

I walked to the front of the classroom, thanked Miss Willow, and faced my classmates. Then, in the most convincing voice I could come up with, I said; Listen Guys, this story is about something I believe really happened to me—and I’m very serious about it. After the snickering died down I said:

"It all began one day during summer vacation while I was at the stream by my house. I go there almost every day during the summer months. I love to lie in the grass beside the stream and listen to the water rippling by, and look at all the wonderful things around me, and of course the fluffy clouds in the sky.

While I was lying there enjoying myself, I saw a Butterfly land on a flower beside me. I slowly turned my head toward it—trying not to scare it away. When I had a good look at it I was fascinated by its beauty. I don’t know how long I stared at it before I whispered, My, aren’t you a pretty thing. I’ve never seen a butterfly as beautiful as you.

Now, that’s when it all started happening. The Butterfly began to grow before my very eyes. She continued to grow until she was slightly larger than me. This scared the whoopee out of me. I wanted to run and, yet, I wanted to stay. I jumped to my feet and was about ready to blast out of there, when the Butterfly looked at me and started laughing. My eyes must have been bugging out of my head, at least a foot or more. And without realizing it, I found myself talking to a Butterfly. Well, I wasn’t exactly talking to it. I screamed, What are you laughing at?

Your face, it replied, I’ve watched your face all spring and I’ve never seen this one before.

That’s because you’ve never seen me looking at a Butterfly that’s bigger than me! That’s enough to scare a mummy back to life. Besides, how is it that you have been looking at me all spring and I haven’t seen you?

That’s a silly question J.D. You wouldn’t see me now if I hadn’t moved close to your head. I’ve been watching you from a distance because I had to be sure you were the one I was sent to deal with.

What do you mean deal with? I asked, holding my head in my hands.

Her reply was quick and to the point.

I was sent here on a mission to make a special offer to a certain human.

What in the world are you talking about, I snapped? It was deathly quiet for a moment, and then I said,

I can’t believe I’m talking to a butterfly!

Give me a break J.D., I’ve heard you talking to clouds all week; and you can’t believe your talking to a butterfly. I thought about that for a moment and replied,

Well, the clouds don’t talk back. She stared at me for a moment and said,

Would you like me to stop talking? Without hesitation, I replied,

No! Just be patient with me while I get myself together. I took a deep breath and said, OK Butterfly, I think I’ve got my head screwed on right, at least for now. So, why were you led to me? And, what is this special offer? She seemed relieved that I had calmed down, and patiently replied,

I was sent to this exact spot. I was told to watch for a young girl who would come here day after day, and lie by the stream day-dreaming. So, that’s you!

I’ll bet there are other kids, who live nearby, who enjoy lying by this stream, I snapped back, So, why me?

You aren’t listing J.D. I said I was sent to this exact spot, not to some other spot.

I impatiently shot back OK, OK, so what’s the special deal—thing? I could see she was getting impatient with me. Before I could take another breath she said,

Here’s the offer: You will be given a chance to do something that no other human has ever done. You will come with me to Butterfly Island and see the wonder and beauty of it—up close. You were chosen because of your love for nature. Here’s your big chance to really see some of it up close. Also, you will go on a special adventure with some, very brave butterflies. But, here’s the catch: you’ll have to become a Butterfly.

What? I exclaimed! "I have to become a Butterfly? You are out of your butterfly mind. How can I become a butterfly?

Leave that up to me, it answered. I immediately blurted out, Is it going to hurt? And, will I stay a Butterfly forever? Can I become a person again?

Slow down J.D., It said, laughing, almost uncontrollably. No, it won’t hurt. And, yes you can become a person again—if you want to. Without even thinking about it I said,

OK, let’s do it.

Immediately, he or she, whatever it is, drew a short golden rod out of a pouch strapped to its side. The butterfly held it towards the sky and said something I couldn’t understand. It sounded like it was saying the name of somebody—or something like that. Anyway, as soon as those words got out of its mouth, what seemed like a bolt of lightning struck me and turned me to a large Butterfly.

Wow! I shouted, in amazement. I have become a perfect Butterfly… Uhhhh, except for one thing, I still have human feet. I looked at my bare-feet and then at my Butterfly friend and said, oh my, it looks like you boo-booed.

Oh well, what did you expect? After all, this is the first time I’ve done this. What you see is what you get. Then, it started laughing again. It laughed so hard I thought it was going wacko. I stood there, looking at her in utter disgust. Finally, I said,

Aren’t you supposed to be doing something besides laughing at me? And by the way, are butterflies boys and girls? If so, which one are you?

OK, OK! Don’t rush me. I’m having a good time. The answers to your questions are; butterflies are either boys or girls and, I am a girl. Also, you’re quite right, I must focus on my mission—lets be on our journey.

Once more she held up that golden rod and said the same thing as before, and immediately we were moving at triple warped-speed—at least that is what it seemed like. Then, before I could get another word out of my mouth we came to a sudden stop in mid-air. I was totally disoriented. When I finally came to my senses, I realized I was hanging in mid-air, hundreds of feet over an island. When I looked around, I saw that the island was surrounded by a huge river, which separated it from a dense jungle. I was in a daze. Yet, I was still trying to take it all in. Then she casually flicked me on the head with her wand and said, Wake-up my friend, we’re here.

We’re where? I asked.

Butterfly Island, she replied. It’s the most beautiful place in the world—so I have been told by the Elders. Oh, by the way, I guess you know you’re flying—don’t you?

Oh my, why did you have to say that? Now, I’m getting dizzy again. I think I’m going to fall.

She shook her head and said, Stop being so dramatic J.D. You are not going to fall! You’re a Butterfly. Flying is as natural to you as walking was when you were a human. So enjoy it. It’s pretty neat isn’t it?

Yeah, I see what you mean. I don’t think I could fall, even if I tried. Yes, this is neat. But, how will I ever be able to explain this wonderful feeling to my friends back home? She raised her eyebrows, stared at me a moment and said,

I’m sure you’ll find a way when the time comes.

Hey, butterfly? Do you have a name, I asked?

My name is Ohso.

Your name is Ohso? How did you get a name like that?

Well, she said; Here, on Butterfly Island, they always name you for something you do or say continually. Whenever I thought something wasn’t going my way, the first thing I would say was; ‘Oh-So…’ I often started my sentences that way. Know what I mean?

I think so, I answered, scratching my head. I wanted to talk to her some more about it, but she turned her head and begin looking around. I think she wanted to change the subject. Then she turned to me and said,

I have a big problem to deal with right now. I have to explain you to my friends. It’s not going to be easy, especially with those funny looking feet you have. After she paused for a moment she said; now that I think about it, I’m not going to introduce you to them for a while, because of your feet and all. I’m certain it would send them into shock.

What are you talking about, I yelled! Stop kidding, and do something about these feet before I meet your friends.

Sorry! No can do! she replied.

Ohso, what do you mean, no can do?" She gave me a serious look and said,

J.D., I told you before, what you see is what you get. I did everything right. That’s just way you came out, pointing to my feet with her left wing. Maybe your feet will grow some long fuzz to hide them a little? Ugh, I sure hope so."

Oh man, what am I going to do now? I moaned. Then I looked her square in the eye and said, Ohso, will you please stop teasing me?

She sighed, looked away for a moment, and then gingerly replied, OK, I’ll stop teasing for now. But, I can’t guarantee that my friends won’t tease you. She paused for a moment and then added, Stay calm, you won’t have to worry about them for a while.

I gave her a dirty look, shook my head and said, I’m not going to ask what you meant by that. I know I’d just get another weird answer.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, Good! Let’s fly around, for a while. I want to show you some things and I’ll tell you about my home and the event that’s taking place today. However, I don’t know where to begin. After a long pause she went on to say, "what you are going to see, when we go down there, is a world you never dreamed existed. That big island, surrounded by that gigantic river, is where I live. We call it Butterfly Island. The rest of what you see, on the other side of the river,